In her work with U.S. military veterans on the Navajo Nation, Bernadine Tyler routinely logs 1,200 miles a month driving across an area the size of West Virginia, over high windswept plains dotted with rust-red mesas.

Roughly one-third of homes here on America’s largest reservation don’t have electricity or running water, so Ms. Tyler, herself a member of the Navajo Nation and an Army veteran, brings services directly to her fellow vets. 

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Native Americans serve in the U.S. military at exceptionally high rates, yet face significant post-service challenges. Efforts are underway to better support veterans on the Navajo Nation.

Though Navajo and other Native Americans serve in the U.S. military at five times the national average – a higher rate than any other demographic – they are also more likely to be unemployed, grapple with post-traumatic stress, and have lower incomes. 

They are also far less likely to use, or even apply for, services from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The particular challenges of accessing this care came to light during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Native American veterans died at significantly higher rates than other former service members. The VA subsequently pledged to better serve America’s Native American community. 

“It’s a very important step in the right direction to acknowledge their history of the service and their ongoing needs,” says Adam Pritchard, a researcher at Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families. 

In her work with U.S. military veterans here on the Navajo Nation, Bernadine Tyler routinely logs 1,200 miles a month driving across an area the size of West Virginia, over high windswept plains dotted with rust-red mesas.

Roughly one-third of homes here on America’s largest reservation don’t have electricity or running water, so Ms. Tyler, herself a member of the Navajo Nation and an Army veteran, brings services directly to her fellow vets, most of whom are over the age of 65. 

She points out the occasional gas station and folks walking on the dusty shoulders of pot-holed roads. There’s a bus, “but it’s very unreliable and only runs one route,” says Ms. Tyler, program lead for the Diné Naazbaa Partnership (DNP), which serves the Navajo Nation and receives funding from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Why We Wrote This

A story focused on

Native Americans serve in the U.S. military at exceptionally high rates, yet face significant post-service challenges. Efforts are underway to better support veterans on the Navajo Nation.

“If you’re there, you’re there. If not, you’ve missed it for the day.”

For vets without transport or refrigerators, she carries bags of ice to fill the convenience store coolers that many use to chill their food and medications. She enlists volunteers, including her sons, to help haul water and chop wood for warmth in the winter. 

Though Navajo and other Native Americans serve in the U.S. military at five times the national average – a higher rate than any other demographic – they are also more likely to be unemployed, grapple with post-traumatic stress, and have lower incomes. They are also far less likely to use, or even apply for, VA services.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff/File

View of a home on the Navajo Nation reservation, on Feb. 28, 2022, outside Thoreau, New Mexico. Many people living on the Navajo reservation do not have indoor plumbing, running water, or electricity.

The particular challenges of accessing this care came to light during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Native American veterans living in small multigenerational homes without running water on closed tribal lands died at significantly higher rates than other former service members. The VA subsequently pledged to better serve America’s Native American community. 



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